Egon Spengler
"I collect spores, molds, and fungus." - ''Egon Spengler; Ghostbusters'' Dr. Egon Spengler, Ph.D. is a former professor of paranormal studies at the University of Columbia. Upon his termination, Egon founded Ghostbusters, Inc. along with Doctors Ray Stantz and Peter Venkman. He is considered the brain behind the Ghostbusters and has designed and built nearly all of their equipment, including the proton pack and the Storage facility. Typically, Ray is the only other member of the Ghostbusters who has no trouble understanding Egon's technical jargon. Personality Egon is bookish and socially awkward. In his spare time he collects spores, molds, and fungus. He doesn't express his emotions well and has described himself as "always serious." His childhood may have been normal in many regards, but one strange fact is that he didn't play with toys. He was given a Slinky once, but he straightened it. And once, in Ghostbusters II, Egon flatly informed their porter that the proton pack was not a toy. Despite Janine Melnitz's subtle hints that she was attracted to him, he seemed to ignore her romantic advances and kept their relationship platonic. He once stated that most women would be attracted to his epididymis rather than his intellect. Egon doesn't handle stressful situations well, as evinced by his statement that he was "...terrified beyond the capacity for rational thought," when facing the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. Occasionally Egon is given to understatement; he initially only states that crossing the streams would be "bad". Egon has a very dry sense of humor. He is not immune to anger, as under duress he has been shown to swear twice in the first movie. He even lunged at Walter Peck in anger when Peck ordered them arrested for the disruption regarding the shutdown of the Containment Grid, despite the fact Peck himself was entirely responsible. Generally speaking though, Egon remains largely pragmatic and straight-to-the-point when it comes to his demeanor. Egon puts few restraints on the scope of his paranormal research. This is evident in Ghostbusters II: he conducts experiments in his lab in which he deliberately incites couples to argue. When the mood slime is being tested, Egon sleeps with it in order to check its response to nurturing behavior. History Ghostbusters Egon was very interested in paranormal phenomenon, even while working with both Ray Stantz and Peter Venkman at the University. He and Ray Stantz studied paranormal literature in their spare time, and were interested in theories of reincarnation. Egon was usually the first to interview case subjects-adding to their mantra, "We're ready to believe you." Examples were Dana Barrett from her Zuul encounter and her carriage phenomenon with Oscar. Even people Peter called "schizo" always went to either Egon or Ray to describe their paranormal experiences, no matter how far fetched their stories were. For his part, Venkman once took back everything negative he said about him, rewarding the fellow scientist with his favorite candy bar. Egon also developed the technology behind the P.K.E. meter, the proton pack, the trap, and the Storage facility. He was also aware of the danger of crossing the streams. He spent a lot of time focusing on the stability of the Storage facility, and was concerned about the possibilities of a PKE surge of dangerous proportions. Egon was particularly critical of Walter Peck's actions and his attitude that Ghostbusters, Inc. was responsible for the explosion of the Containment Unit that occurred when Peck ordered a municipal worker to shut the unit down. After their encounter with Stay Puft, Egon suggested an atypical solution when he recommended blasting Gozer's dimensional portal while crossing the proton streams to reverse the particle flow and send Gozer back to her/its dimension. Egon once tried to drill a hole in his own head, which "would have worked" if Venkman hadn't stopped him. This process is known as Trepanation. Ghostbusters II Ghostbusters: The Video Game ]] Egon becomes significantly more 'hands-on' during the course of the video game. He and Ray Stantz instruct the Rookie in the use of the Proton Pack and its eventual PCS (Paranormal Countermeasure System) upgrades. Over the course of the game, it becomes evident that he was somewhat traumatized by their exhausting trek up the stairs of 555 Central Park West. He states that he sees something truly horrifying during their investigation at the 5th Avenue branch of the New York Public Library. When Ray inquires as to what it was he saw, Egon replies "Stairs; lots and lots of stairs..." Trivia *In the first movie novelization, Egon displayed scientific attitudes quite early in life, as he would pester librarians into ordering various arcane books to read. And an anti-gravity experiment utilizing a jungle gym and hundreds of feet of industrial copper wire managed to brown out all of Brooklyn in a crude EMP burst. By observing fellow high school students making out in the park and applying a variety of scientific principles, Egon managed to precisely forecast the exact number of VD cases in New York state for that year. As a result, most parents would express an aversion to letting their children associate with him. *Egon is also said to have a brother in the novel. *Egon has a fondness for junk food. In the movie he's shown to be eating Cheez-Its and a candy bar. In the novelization he scarfs down the Twinkee he uses to illustrate the level of PKE in the New York area. In the Ghostbusters role-playing game Egon is known to eat large quantities of fish. It's implied that this helped him attain his high intelligence quotient. (Fish is regarded by some as a brain food.) *In the West End Role-playing game Egon's motivation is "Soulless Science". Which means he's more interested in the overall goal of acquiring knowledge, with little to no regard of how it might inconvenience or endanger others. *Egon subtly gives Peter the numbers to the cost of the bill that Peter quotes to the manager of the Sedgewick in the first movie. Egon Spengler for Animated Cartoons Category: Major character Category:Ghostbusters: TVG Characters Category:Ghostbusters Movie Characters Category:Ghostbusters II Characters